A distributed computing architecture will be described that is particularly appropriate for the support of the processing demands associated with what will be referred to as generic conferencing applications. From a broad and general perspective, the concept of a conference among a set of users can be viewed as a collaboration in which formatted discrete or continuous information is provided and accepted by users according to protocols and specifications that are application dependent. Within such an abstract conferencing scenario, the processing of the transmitted information can take place both at the source and destination devices employed by the users as well as by means of processing of information in-route to and from the users. Both modes of generic conference operational support represent valid modes of operation that must be provided by the conferencing infrastructure. Increasingly data-intensive, real-time conferencing applications depend on the availability of an underlying infrastructural capability that offers the needed functionality. The essence of the distributed computing architecture to be presented in the following can be characterized in terms of a highly efficient use of conferencing resources in order to provide a robust conferencing capability relevant to comprehensive range of generic applications.